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Rocket Community Fund Invests in “Stable, Healthy Housing” for Underserved Communities

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Detroit resident Romell Johnson had two goals: to construct his savings and begin a brand new profession. Rocket Community Fund, a philanthropic partner of Rocket Companies, helped achieve this with the Rocket Wealth Accelerator program.

The program, launched in late 2022, is a $2 million investment from Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC), which promotes financial stability for underserved residents of Detroit, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Atlanta. Designated LISC Financial Opportunity Centers help clients improve emergency fund management, construct credit and construct generational wealth.

Thanks to this system, Johnson was able to avoid wasting $500, buy a brand new automotive and budget for the longer term.

“I feel unstoppable. I’m more confident in my financial stability if an emergency happens,” Johnson said.

“It made me realize that new goals are possible. Why not work toward buying a house?”

Michael T. Pugh, president and CEO of LISC, said greater than 2,400 people have benefited from financial counseling that focused on topics including constructing emergency savings and saving for a house.

Pugh added, “The Rocket Wealth Accelerator matched savings program has already unlocked $280,000 for community members. And Rocket’s commitment to financial inclusion and wellness aligns perfectly with LISC’s mission and dedication to closing wealth and opportunity gaps—we are deeply grateful for this catalytic partnership.”

The Accelerator is considered one of several programs supported by the Fund that aim to assist underserved communities overcome systemic challenges in accumulating and transferring wealth.

MISSION INCLUDES A VOW TO SIMPLIFY UNFAIR SYSTEMS

The Fund’s goal is to simplify complex and inequitable systems to make sure that every American has access to stable, healthy housing. It focuses on 4 national investment pillars: ending homelessness, stopping displacement, constructing wealth through homeownership, and bridging the digital divide. A fifth investment pillar, shared with the Gilbert Family Foundation, focuses on constructing opportunity in Detroit. Since 2010, Rocket Community Fund has committed greater than $230 million to community organizations and programs.

The foundation of the Fund’s work is Neighbor to Neighbor, a door-to-door outreach campaign that connects residents with resources and gathers information to tell future investments. The program began in Detroit in 2017 to scale back tax foreclosures. It has since expanded to Cleveland, Milwaukee and Atlanta.

“The access to housing resources and information, coupled with the connectivity that happens through Neighbor to Neighbor, is the secret sauce of the program,” said Rob Lockett, national housing stability team leader at Rocket Community Fund.

“Through this process, community members become stronger and better able to advocate for themselves.”

As Lockett explains, through Neighbor to Neighbor, “residents are encouraged to get out and talk to each other about housing issues that affect their community and that are most felt at the neighborhood level.”

SOLVING A FULL SPECTRUM OF HOUSING PROBLEMS

Rocket Community Fund

In 2018, Rocket Community Fund became a lead sponsor of Built for Zero, a nationwide movement of greater than 100 communities focused on ending homelessness. Since 2015, Built for Zero communities have housed greater than 176,000 people.

“Our support for Built for Zero is intended to help communities across the country develop better systems to respond to the challenge of homelessness,” said Rocket Community Fund Executive Director Laura Grannemann.

“The data shows that providing housing with supportive services is not only more effective in reducing homelessness, but also significantly reduces spending on emergency services such as hospitalizations, incarceration and shelters.”

She added: “By identifying wider trends we can also act early on in the problem to prevent more people from becoming homeless.”

An example of this upstream approach is the recent investment by Rocket Community Fund in Atlanta. In March 2024, the organization announced $250,000 in recent funding to guard senior and elderly homeowners in Atlanta from displacement by paying off previous property balances. This follows a $500,000 investment in 2022 in the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership’s Legacy Resident Retention Program (LRRP), which stabilizes property tax rates for income-qualifying residents through 2030.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens praised efforts to stop displacement of everlasting residents.

“Our vision of ‘one city, one bright future’ can only be achieved through partnerships that prioritize our most critical needs, like stable and safe housing. I am grateful to Rocket Community Fund for their commitment to promoting equity and economic inclusion for Atlantans.”

Rocket Community Fund understands the vital role renters play in a healthy housing market. In Atlanta, the organization invested $300,000 in the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation to strengthen its eviction defense services. It also invested $1.25 million to launch the Cleveland Eviction Defense Fund.

I feel unstoppable. I feel like my destiny is written by me. I’m more confident in my financial stability because if an emergency happens, I now have flexibility.”

While eviction protections for tenants prevent instability, Rocket Community Fund works to assist tenants change into homeowners through programs like Make It Home.

The program, which began in Detroit, allows eligible tenants occupying foreclosed homes to change into homeowners slightly than face eviction. The program uses the town’s “right of refusal” to purchase properties before the foreclosure auction for the worth of the delinquent taxes. The properties are then purchased by a nonprofit partner with financial support from the Rocket Community Fund and sold to the tenant under a land contract for the fee of the delinquent taxes. A complete of 1,500 families have change into homeowners through this system.

BUILDING GENERATIONAL WEALTH

Rocket Community Fund
Rocket Community Fund

The Rocket Community Fund goals to make sure that more Americans can enjoy the advantages of homeownership and pass on wealth to future generations, especially Black Americans who’ve faced systemic barriers to homeownership.

Since 2010, the wealth gap between black and white families has grown. As the fee of homeownership continues to rise across the country, significant effort and focus will probably be needed to assist reverse this trend.

While the dimensions of the challenge could seem overwhelming, the Rocket Community Fund team uses its core philosophies, ISM, to discover solutions.

“One of our ISMs is ‘You will see it when you believe it,’” Grannemann says. “That means we are driven by positivity and the belief that we can overcome big challenges. Instead of sitting on the sidelines and waiting for change, we work with our social partners to make it happen.”

This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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How a Black-owned radio station stayed independent for 50 years while other media became corporatized.

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WDKX, WDKX Radio, WDKX Rochester, Rochester radio stations, B lack-owned radio stations, WDKX Andria Langston, theGrio.com

If you have ever checked out a radio station’s call letters, it can have gave the impression of they were just letters to you.

But at WDKX radios in Rochester, New York, the letter “D” stands for Frederick Douglass, “K” stands for Martin Luther King Jr., and “X” stands for

In a media environment where many Black radio stations that air promoting to Black listeners usually are not Black-owned, WDKX exemplifies the legacy and power of independent Black media. This yr the station is celebrating 50 years in business.

According to African American Public Radio Consortiuman estimated 10,000 industrial radio stations broadcast each day within the U.S., but lower than 1% are black-owned. This discrepancy reveals greater than just an ownership gap; highlights a systemic problem that ends in fewer Black leaders being accountable for the voices and messages that claim to talk for Black people.

“Anyone can play black music or turn on black shows, but with black creators there is a different kind of authenticity and connection,” says Andria Langston, current co-owner of WDKX and national sales manager.

Langston is Andre Langston’s daughter and granddaughter Andrew Langstonwho founded WDKX in 1974 in Rochester. While the northern New York city is commonly considered a destination for abolitionists like Frederick Douglass, that does not imply racism wasn’t prevalent in the realm.

Andrew Langston (right) is the founder and visionary of WDKX Radio, which he founded in 1974. (Photo via WROC-TV)
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Andria Langston poses along with her father, Andre Langston, current owner of WDKX radio in Rochester, New York, who made sure the station remained independently owned. (Photo courtesy of The Langston Family)
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“My grandfather was a visionary, and interestingly enough, he moved to Rochester, New York, because he was promised a job at CBS,” Langston tells Grio. “But when he got there and they saw he was black, they didn’t want to show him on TV. Being in Rochester during the Rochester Riots, my grandparents saw there was a need to tell our story.”

Today, WDKX is a model of resilience, being certainly one of the last independently operated Black-owned radio stations within the United States. The station organizes community events and highlights issues related to health, education and politics. Its mission is deeply rooted within the vision of Mr. Langston, who overcame regulatory and racial barriers to create a platform dedicated to authentic Black voices. For Andria, who began learning the station’s operations on the age of 5, that is of great importance.

“I’m a third-generation owner and seeing my grandfather build this station throughout my life and my father continuing it, I think it’s a testament to the American dream; what can be achieved with persistence and community and simply focusing on your goals,” Langston tells theGrio.

(*50*)

Like many Black-owned public radio stations, WDKX attracts socially and culturally aware listeners who help keep this legacy alive. Although many African-American public radio stations are licensed by universities – accounting for 70% of all such stations, including NPR affiliates – WDKX is certainly one of the few that also operates independently.

This weekend, as WDKX celebrates its fiftieth anniversary, it does in order a testament to the importance of getting Black people in media. From its commitment to unfiltered storytelling to its ability to construct authentic connections, WDKX stays a critical voice in an era where community-centered, Black-owned media is required greater than ever. For listeners in Rochester and beyond, WDKX is greater than just a radio station. It reminds us of the strength and resilience that comes from having your personal narrative.

“My grandfather was in his 40s when he finally started a radio station,” Langston explains. “So you may have a dream in your 20s and it should take you years to comprehend it. Don’t surrender in your dreams. To proceed. Because you have got time and there may be enough for everyone here.

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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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No, the boom in battery factories in America is not over – construction of the largest factories is proceeding as planned and it is planned to employ over 23,000 people

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The United States is experiencing the largest-ever boom in investment in clean energy production, driven by laws such as the bipartisan bill Act on infrastructure investments and employment and Act on reducing inflation.

They have these rights used billions of dollars government support to drive private sector investment in clean energy supply chains across the country.

For several years, one of us, Jay Turner, and his students at Wellesley College have been tracking clean energy investments in the U.S. and sharing the data on the website The big green machine website. This study shows that since the Inflation Control Act went into effect in 2022, firms have announced 225 projects with a complete investment of $127 billion and the creation of greater than 131,000 latest jobs.

You could have seen on the news that these projects are in danger of failure or significant delays. In August 2024, the Financial Times reported this. 40% of over 100 projects he assessed that they were delayed. These include battery production, renewable energy and metals and hydrogen projects, as well as semiconductor manufacturing plants. The technology industry magazine The Information recently warned of this 1 in 4 firms left from government subsidies for investment in batteries.

Workers assemble battery packs for electric vehicles in Spartanburg, South Carolina. New battery factories in the state will help move the supply chain closer to U.S. electric vehicle factories.
BMW

We checked all 23 battery cell factories announced or prolonged since the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law – just about all of them are gigafactories which might be expected to produce greater than 1 gigawatt-hour of battery cell capability. These factories have one of the highest employment potentials of all the projects supported by the Act.

We wanted to discover whether the U.S. clean energy production boom was about to fizzle out. Most of what we learned is reassuring.

The largest battery factories are on the right track

While exact investment amounts are difficult to determine, our study shows that planned capital expenditure shall be $52 billion, which would supply 490 gigawatt-hours of battery production capability per 12 months – enough to put about 5 million latest electric vehicles on the road.

While not all 23 firms have announced hiring plans, the facilities are expected to create nearly 30,000 latest jobs, with projects primarily in the U.S. Southeast, Midwest and Southwest.

We wanted to know whether these projects were progressing as planned or whether there have been delays or problems.

To do that, we first contacted local and state economic development agencies. In many cases, local and state tax incentives support these projects. Where possible, we now have tried to confirm the status of the project through public data Or formal announcements. In other cases, we looked for messages to see in the event that they existed construction proof Or hiring.

Our study shows that 13 of 23 projects are on the right track, with total planned capital investment exceeding $40 billion and production capability of nearly 352 gigawatt hours per 12 months. Importantly, they include most of the largest projects with the largest investments and expected production.

Our calculations show that 77% of total planned capital investment, 79% of proposed jobs, and 72% of planned battery production are on the right track, meaning the project is likely to be accomplished roughly on time and overall as expected. result. level of investment and employment.

Three projects are on the bubble. These have shown progress but have experienced delays in construction or financing.

Five others show deeper signs of distress. We do not yet have enough information to draw conclusions about the two projects.

An example of an ongoing project is the Envision AESC battery plant in Florence, South Carolina. His the scale has been enlarged twice since it was first announced in December 2022. It is now a $3 billion investment with the goal of producing 30 gigawatt-hours of batteries per 12 months supplies the BMW factory in Woodruff, South Carolina.

In early October 2024, South Carolina Secretary of Commerce Harry Lightsey visited the Envision i facility published a video. Construction of the plant began in February 2024, and 850 employees are working six days per week to complete the 1.4 million square foot facility by August 2025. Once full production begins, the project shall be accomplished expected to hire 2,700 people.

The 2024 elections could end or speed up the boom

However, much relies on what is going to occur in the upcoming elections.

Our data suggests that the real risk facing these projects and projects like them is not sluggish demand for electric vehicles, as some suggest – in fact demand continues to grow. It’s not the local opposition that did it either it only slowed down a number of projects.

The the biggest risk is policy change. Many of these projects are counting on advanced manufacturing tax credits approved by the Inflation Reduction Act through 2032.

During the campaign, Republicans are promising to repeal key laws under Biden, including the Inflation Reduction Act, which incorporates funding for grants and loans to support clean energy, as well as tax incentives to support domestic manufacturing.

While an entire repeal of the Act could also be unlikely, an an administration hostile to clean energy redirect unspent funds to other purposes, slow the pace of grants or loans by slow project approvals, or find other ways to make tax incentives tougher to obtain. Although our research focused on the battery industry, concerns concern investments in wind energy AND solar energy too.

So will the great U.S. boom in clean energy production soon come to an end? Our data is optimistic, but the policy is uncertain.

This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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Jaylen Brown is launching his own sports brand thanks to Kobe Bryant

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NBA champion Jaylen Brown did the other of most superstars once they were offered a giant contract. He turned down the offer, but as a substitute decided to start his own brand, crediting the thought to the late Kobe Bryant.

In an exclusive interview with and , a Boston Celtics player discussed his latest enterprise, 741, a footwear and sports brand. After meeting with several firms and never feeling the offers thrown at him, Brown announced that he followed the trail that the nice Kobe planned. The Lakers legend was planning to start his own sports company, so he decided to do the identical.

After turning down $50 million in sponsorship deals, he launched 741 in September.

“Honestly, I got the thought from Kobe (Bryant), rest in peace. Before his death, he planned to launch his own shoe brand, sign contracts with athletes and offer them higher deals and percentages. I remember reading an article about it and pondering it was bullshit. I analyzed my own experiences of working for big corporations and the way they value your creativity and also you. I’ve tried every brand and none of them stood out. Everyone approaches things the identical way. I used to be on the lookout for a brand of the long run, not a brand of the past. I could not find it so I had to start.

Brown also stated that he also helped design products for his line. Outside of design, he said that creating 741 allowed him to explore his creativity.

“I designed all the pieces myself. I used to be just on the factory in South Korea, on the road, ensuring all the pieces was done the way in which I believed it must be. I’ve done probably close to $50 million value of deals (from other brands) to start something on my own. And it wasn’t because I didn’t like the cash they were offering. It’s because these contracts pigeonholed me and didn’t allow me to be creative.

Brown also said he didn’t want to force anything when it comes to brand promotion. He favors a slow-build approach and admitted that “it doesn’t have to be the hottest brand on the street tomorrow.”


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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